The Toronto Blue Jays acquired outfielder Daulton Varsho from the Arizona Diamondbacks for outfielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and catcher Gabriel Moreno on Friday according to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Rogers Sportsnet. For a contending team such as the Blue Jays, this trade is actually downright stunning at how awful it is. Anyway you look at it, the Diamondbacks won this trade, and it is simply not even close. Varsho should not have been traded for either Gurriel Jr. or Moreno, and inexplicably, he was traded for BOTH of them.
I know why the deal was made. It was to help the Blue Jays from a defensive perspective. However, with the loss of Teoscar Hernandez to Seattle, you would have though Blue Jays management addressed their concern with Kevin Kiermaier, and could find an outfielder that could hit the baseball with more consistency.
In 2022, Varsho, who has played some catcher in his career, batted .235 with 27 home runs and 74 runs batted in. In 151 games, 592 plate appearances and 531 at bats, he scored 79 runs and had 125 hits, 23 doubles, three triples, 16 stolen bases, 46 walks. 235 total bases, two sacrifice bunts, five sacrifice flies, and had a slugging percentage of .443 and an on base percentage of .302.
Gurriel Jr. had batting average of .291 (56 more points than Varsho) with five home runs and 51 runs batted in. In 121 games, 493 plate appearances, and 453 at bats, he scored 52 runs and had 132 hits, 32 doubles, one triple, three stolen bases. 31 walks, 181 total bases, two sacrifice flies, an on base percentage of .343 and a slugging percentage of .400. More importantly, he brought a great deal of energy and positive spark to Toronto, that cannot be replaced.
Moreno was involved in a numbers game in Toronto. The Blue Jays already have Alejandro Kirk and Danny Jansen behind the plate. Still, Moreno could potentially be the best of the three. Jansen should have been the catcher dealt. In 2022 as a rookie, Moreno batted an excellent .319 with one home run and seven runs batted in. During 25 games, 73 plate appearances, and 69 at bats, he scored 10 runs and had 22 hits, one double, four walks, 26 total bases, a .356 on base percentage and .377 slugging percentage. Bottom line is Moreno is one of baseball’s top catching prospects.